Chapter 7.8: The Wrath of the The Dark Queen

Priestess Yasha and what was left of her men approached the temple. She had survived the insurgent attack from the Firewalkers. Stationed at the outpost that guarded against threats below, she had oversight of around 50 soldiers, including 2 magi. About half of her men had been killed in the assault, mostly by the elemental that had come through and cut off reinforcements. The elemental was supposed to be banished back to its plane of existence by the High Priestess, but something had went wrong - yet another failure of High Priestess Camella. High Priestess Camella had passed through the area in a rush, trying to cut the head off the snake of the rebellion, but had not returned. Priestess Yasha didn’t know what her fate was, nor did she care. This was her opportunity to shine, and she wasn’t going to let it pass by.

As she approached the temple, she found none of her sisters at the temple. As best she could tell, she was the only remaining priestess that was still standing, at least outside the common area. Where were the others that were supposed to guard the temple? There were only 2 driders left protecting the altar when she arrived. Several dead drow guards lay throughout the temple, having succumbed to some kind of poison attack.

She hesitantly approached the Dark Queen’s altar. She had long dreamed of her own private audience where she could petition the Dark Queen for more power. This was different though. In her dreams, she proudly approached the altar and was recognized for years ago undying devotion to Takhisis. Now she was trembling – these were not the circumstances under which she wished to catch the Dark Queen’s attention. Reporting a failure of the High Priestess and heavy losses at the hands of some inferior god could easily invoke the Dark Queen’s wrath instead of her blessing. This was not how this was supposed to happen.

She carefully took a few more steps forward and bent her knee to the altar. The power here was immense, and the five headed dragon emblem reminded her of the power of her goddess.

She licked her lips one last time and bowed her head. She closed her eyes and spoke clearly, passionately.

“My Queen… it is I, Priestess Yahsa, your humble servant. I… we need you. The Firewalkers have risen up, and the High Priestess Camella has failed you.” She carefully considers her words and adds, “Her plan of humiliating her brother instead of killing him outright was folly. I know you empowered her and trusted her to do your bidding, and I would never question your judgement, but… she has failed you. Despite all you have given her, she was not fully devoted to you the way that I am. If you will empower me with but a fraction of what you gave her, I promise you that I will do what she could not. Please, my Queen, grant me power, and I WILL. NOT. FAIL.”

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The message did not go unheard. Takhisis would not allow this affront at her own temple go unpunished. Although her first instinct was to kill the messenger in a fit of rage, something about her desire for power appealed to her. Perhaps there was hope for this one. First though, she would address the immediate affront... personally.